


A Higher Purpose

by ornithomancy



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Background Relationships, Gen, Getting Back Together, Hopeless Romantic Character, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28962717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ornithomancy/pseuds/ornithomancy
Summary: The Queen is leaving the Underworld, and Charon can only hope that the effects will not be too devastating.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	A Higher Purpose

The Queen of the Underworld sits in the back of his boat, weeping as she casts the skulls that once adorned her clothes into the Styx. Charon has never been a god of many words, but even now he cannot find anything to say to help their journey pass any faster. There is only the sound of his paddle cutting into the water and the Queen’s quiet sniffling to accompany them.

He cannot help but to wonder what her leaving will mean for the House — for Lord Hades himself. Charon does not let himself dwell on the possibilities. None of them are good. There is not much he can do, save be ready to give the Queen a trip back should she ask for one. 

He hopes, perhaps optimistically, that she will ask.

He brings his boat to a stop at the bank of the river far from the entrance to the Underworld. Once moored, he offers a hand to the Queen to help her return to the land of the living. She turns to him once she is firmly ashore and offers him a sad smile. One last goodbye.

Charon bows his head and pushes his boat off once more. 

* * *

The aftershocks rumble through the underworld immediately.

For a god who has never stepped foot within the House itself, Charon is privy to many of its goings on. With little else to do, shades love to talk, so he hears plenty as he paddles up and down the rivers at all hours of the eternal night.

It is what he feared at first — that Lord Hades has become cruel and harsh, more so than he has ever been. He sees too many shades shaken after having just left the House, believing that they were about to be condemned to the lowest depths of Tartarus despite a quiet life above.

He hears about his siblings and the others who work in the House. They are quieter, apparently matching the somber mood of the House. Their work and their nature makes all of them rather solitary, otherwise Charon would offer to lend an ear. He would even be willing to listen to Lord Hades himself, but he suspects the Lord of the House would never allow himself that.

There is an ache where he supposes a heart would be.

* * *

On the surface it appears that the Queen is doing better. Charon passes by her little home on occasion as he travels up the river to meet Hermes. He sees it grow from a simple building into a proper home, surrounded by gardens and flowers and teeming with life impossible to have in the Underworld.

The Queen waves on occasion when she sees him, nothing more than a cheerful little greeting. He bows his head in return, but does not bring his boat to the bank. 

She has everything she wanted — her home, her plants, her freedom — so he tries to be happy for her.

Over time, Charon notices that she waves to him less. When she does wave, it is with a smile quickly plastered to her face. She spots him from a distance on a few occasions, and hurries inside her home.

Eventually he forces himself to pass by without acknowledging the Queen and without her acknowledging him. He is no stranger to loneliness in the depths of the Underworld, but thinks that the shades of the dead offer better company than living plants.

* * *

It takes some time before he hears something that truly surprises him. A shade at his shop tells him about a flame-footed baby asleep on Lord Hades’s arm as he held court and how even that wasn’t enough to make him any less terrifying. The shade is a few obol short, but he lets them take their trinket regardless. 

The remaining customers take altogether too much time trying to decide what to buy, having long since lost the urgency of living. Once they are gone, Charon packs his wares back onto his boat. He is no god of swiftness, but he makes good time.

Mother Night intercepts him before he can reach the edge of Tartarus. She has a sorrowful look in her eyes that tells him all he needs to know. “I ask that you not tell her, my child,” Nyx says.

Charon groans.

“It is better if she does not know. Better for everyone,” she replies.”Lord Hades has requested this, and I agree with him.”

He groans again, a cloud of smoke briefly covering his face.

“I am aware. For now the Prince’s needs must come first. What may come after that, only the Fates may know.”

Reluctantly, Charon nods. Nyx vanishes, leaving him alone once more. 

* * *

He is just setting out some of his wares when the Prince stumbles up to him. The face of the young god is bloodied and he holds his left arm close to his body, whether to protect his arm or his chest, Charon cannot quite tell. He groans a greeting, hoping his confusion masks his surprise.

Prince Zagreus flashes him a charming smile like he doesn’t have a care in the world. “Why good to see you, Charon mate!” he says cheerily. “Just minding my own business, taking in the sights, and, hey what's that you got, some sort of wares for sale? Then, I'll just have a look around.”

Charon allows the sidestepping of his question slide without a word. He barely pays the Prince any mind as he inspects his wares, too caught up in his own thoughts. As pleased as he is to see the Prince — now so much more grown than when he’d last seen him — he wasn’t expecting to see him out in the underworld so soon. 

The Prince eventually settles on purchasing some Darkness. He makes his payment and tucks it away in the folds of his chiton. He gives Charon a cheerful wave, then heads through face whatever the next chamber may throw at him.

Charon watches as he goes, barely feeling the joy he usually gets from feeling the obol in his fingers. The moment the Prince is gone, he begins putting his wares away once more. If his plan is to work, then he needs to set it in motion as fast as he can.

* * *

Ever-moving Hermes watches him with uncharacteristic patience as he explains his plan. His brow furrows, but he doesn't interrupt Charon. 

"So, just to get this straight — unlike me," he begins after a long moment of thought, "You want me to lend my power to Zagreus to help him escape his father while also lying to my family so they don't catch on the real reason he's trying to get out. And if they do learn the real reason, and they learn that I've been lying to them, there will be a huge fight that will likely end with a few of us dead and down here with you permanently." Hermes stares flatly at Charon, who simply stares back without a word or a nod. "Why?"

A wispy puff of smoke curls up into the air as Charon groans. 

Hermes throws his whole body back as he laughs, nearly falling off his perch from the skull figurehead into the Styx. He takes a few moments before he can regain his composure, but even then the tips of his wings and the ends of his scarf twitch in amusement. “And they say romance is dead! They’re right, just not how they’d expect. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Aphrodite,” he says, grinning widely. He offers his hand towards Charon. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Charon gives his hand a measured shake. Hermes flashes him another grin before dashing off into the sky once more. He watches until there is not even a streak of the Olympian in the sky. Alone once more, Charon starts paddling back into the depths of the underworld.

* * *

The Prince’s progress is much like the dead at first — excruciatingly slow. Hermes may find it insufferable, but Charon’s faith is unwavering. The Prince will make it to the surface, of this he is certain.

He is rewarded first with the rumors from the shades — that Lord Hades rose from the Pool of Styx with such a rage that none dared approached him. More importantly, they say that Prince Zagreus arose from the Pool sometime later. 

The rumors as all but confirmed as the Prince bounds up to his shop in Asphodel with a spring in his step that Charon has never seen amongst the dead.

“Well, look at you Charon mate, you’re looking well!” the Prince says with a joy so infectious Charon almost wants to smile. “Something's different about you, can't quite put my finger on it. Have you done something with your hair?"

Charon groans with a single puff of smoke wafting up. The Prince seems to pay it no mind as turns his attention to his wares, fully lost in his own thoughts. He observes the Prince quietly as he selects a boon from Artemis and a cracked pomegranate. 

He juggles taking a bite out of the pomegranate - skin and arils mushing together - with one hand while giving Charon a little wave with the other as he continues up towards the surface.

* * *

For the first time in decades, the Queen waves to him as he paddles up the river Styx to collect a boatload of souls. Charon diverts to land beside her little home. The souls could wait.

She runs up to the bank to meet him, a small basket of flowers dangling from her elbow. “Charon, just the river-boatman I was hoping to see!” she says. The Queen grabs a flower from the basket and reaches up to tuck it into the band of his hat. He bows to allow her to better reach. When he stands, she is grinning at him.

“I know you’re quite busy, but would you mind meeting me here this time tomorrow?”

* * *

Charon watches from just down river as the Queen and the Prince talk. The Queen is bounding with energy as she cups the Prince’s face. He seems confused at first, but after a few moments is just as, if not more eager than the Queen. 

He paddles the rest of the way up towards her home and moors his boat on the bank. The Queen waves at him, turning the Prince so he can see him as well. Charon bows deeply, the flower in his hat fluttering gently in the breeze.

He helps both the Queen and the Prince board the boat. They chatter softly while he prepares to depart.Just as he is about to push off from shore, he glances up to see Hermes sitting on a branch high above them. 

The swift-footed Olympian grins and gives him a thumbs up.

A plume of smoke rises soundlessly from Charon’s mouth and he turns his attention back to the river once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanatos: Charon is dedicated to the House. Maybe he helped out because he wanted to settle things between you and your father.
> 
> Me: Maybe Charon helped out because he is a hopeless romantic who wanted to get them back together.


End file.
